The Lost Paradigm: Frederick II, Prussia, and July 20th

In: Telos, Heft 135, S. 109-126

Abstract

Frederick the Great, Prussia, & the July 20th plot are three subjects that preferably would go unmentioned in German historical consciousness. The post-WWII eradication of Prussia was not just an inevitable catastrophe of the war; rather, it was actively desired to shove into history the process that eventually led to the misery of 1945 -- "the schooling for war." Prussian militarism & Prussia itself belonged in the past. They had no relevance for the post-war present or the future. The nature of the Frederickian war is exemplified in the king's statement, "We must defeat the enemy or bury outselves before his cannons. Think of Prussia." As a result 33 Prussian generals were lost; many aristocratic families lost almost all their male members of age for the army. It was not that Frederick demanded blind obedience to his orders. On the contrary, he thought independent thinking was a most important element of military training. It was this that led to his downfall, when some of his officers, not agreeing with either Frederick's or Germany's aims, conspired to make an attempt on Hitler's lifeto put an end to the war. The cold-bloodedness with which these men appeared before their Nazi judges seemed incomprehensible -- because it arose from their strength of character & their revival of the Prussian paradigm of war. J. Stanton